世界小史 第71期:继承人薛西斯

 　　He died soon after, leaving his son and successor, Xerxes, to take revenge on Greece once and for all.

　　不久他便死去，把向希腊彻底复仇的任务一下子交给了他的继承人薛西斯。

　　Xerxes, a hard, ambitious man, needed no urging.

　　薛西斯是一个冷酷无情的有统治欲的人，他二话没说，马上就干。

　　He assembled an army from among all the subject peoples of his empire.

　　他集结一支由臣服于波斯人的所有各民族组成的军队。

　　Dressed in their traditional costumes, with their weapons, their bows and arrows, shields and swords, lances, war-chariots and slings¹,

　　他们全都身穿各自地区传统的服装前来并带着各自的武器，带着弓箭、盾牌和剑，带着标枪、战车或投石器。

　　they were a vast, swirling² multitude, said by some to number more than a million men.

　　这是一支庞大的、数目惊人的军队，据说有100多万人。

　　What hope had the Greeks in the face of such a host? This time Xerxes himself took command.

　　简直看不出，这支大军一到，希腊人还会有什么生路。这一回薛西斯御驾亲征。

　　But when the Persians tried to cross the narrow neck of sea which separates Asia Minor³ from today's Istanbul,

　　当波斯大军试图凭借他们由船组成的浮桥越过隔断从今天伊斯坦布尔到小亚细亚的狭小海峡时，

　　on a bridge made of boats, rough waves tore the bridge apart.

　　汹涌的海浪冲毁了船桥。

　　In his fury Xerxes had the waves lashed⁴ with chains. But I doubt if the sea took any notice.

　　薛西斯随即怒气冲冲地让士兵用铁链鞭打海浪。但我怀疑大海是否买他的帐。

1 slings   

抛( sling的第三人称单数 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往

参考例句：

• "Don't you fear the threat of slings, Perched on top of Branches so high?" 矫矫珍木巅，得无金丸惧？ 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• Used for a variety of things including slings and emergency tie-offs. 用于绳套，设置保护点，或者紧急情况下打结。

2 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

3 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

4 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》